Alabama Business Hall of Fame to Induct Five New Members

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Five of the state’s leading business and civic leaders will be inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 11 at the Bryant Conference Center on The University of Alabama campus.

This year marks the 34rd anniversary of the Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Board of Visitors of UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration. The five inductees exemplify hard work and determination as well as a commitment to excellence and the betterment of their community. More than 120 prominent business leaders have been inducted into the Business Hall of Fame, and their likenesses are embossed on plaques that line the walls of the Hall of Fame room in Bidgood Hall on the University campus.

The 2007 inductees are Charles W. Adair of Vestavia Hills; Sam P. Faucett III of Northport; W.A. Williamson Jr. of Montgomery; Elmer B. Harris of Birmingham; and Raymond B. Jones of Huntsville.(see accompanying biographies)

Bob Walter, chairman of Cardinal Health, headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, will deliver the keynote address at the black tie ceremony.

Cardinal Health is a $75 billion global company serving the health-care industry with a broad portfolio of products and services. Cardinal Health manufactures, packages and distributes pharmaceuticals and medical supplies and offers a range of clinical services. The company develops automation products that improve the management and delivery of supplies and medication for hospitals, physician offices and pharmacies.

Ranked No. 19 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs more than 55,000 people on six continents.

Walter founded Cardinal Health as a food wholesaler at age 26 before transforming the company into one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical distributors in the industry.

Walter graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio University and received his Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. In addition to his duties at Cardinal, Walter sits on the boards of American Express and Viacom.

Last year’s speaker was G. Kennedy (Ken) Thompson, chairman, president and chief operating officer of Wachovia Corp. Other past speakers include: James J. Padilla, president and chief operating officer of Ford Motor Co.; Don Logan, chairman of Time Warner’s Media and Communication Group; author and lecturer William F. Buckley, U.S. Sen. John Tower, U.S. Sen. John Glenn, Senator and former Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole, former Vice President Dan Quayle, John Sununu, chief of staff for former President George Bush; Leo Mullin, former chairman and chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines; and Samuel DiPiazza Jr., global chief executive officer for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mobile business leader Harris Morrissette, chairman of the Culverhouse College of Commerce Board of Visitors, said the inductees have shown a strong commitment to public service, to the betterment of their communities and to principles of free enterprise.

“Each of these individuals has acted with conviction and determination to make their communities better places to live,” Morrissette said.

Inductee biographical information

CHARLES W. ADAIR, 84, of Vestavia Hills had a long and successful leadership career in the heavy manufacturing and mining industries. Adair was born in Dora, on July 20, 1923 and spent most of his boyhood years in Bessemer, where he attended and graduated from Bessemer High School. He attended The University of Alabama before joining the U.S. Air Force during World War II. After the war, he attended the Birmingham Extension Center of The University of Alabama, and, later in his business career, completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

He joined Woodward Iron Co. in 1948 and rose through the ranks to become president of the company. He led Woodward through its combination with Mead Corp., and, after the merger, served as president of Mead Industrial Products until his retirement in 1978.

As chief finance officer in the 1960s and 1970s, Adair developed and led Woodward’s growth strategy, expanding its business from coal and iron ore mining and pig iron production into a larger and more diverse company with manufacturing facilities in seven states. Through acquisitions of Alabama Pipe Co., Anniston Foundry, Western Foundry and California Pipe, Woodward became one of the largest cast iron pipe producers in the United States. As part of the growth strategy, Woodward also acquired producers of cement, limestone and rubber molded parts, and automobile, truck and tractor castings.

Upon his retirement from Mead, Adair joined the Drummond Co. Inc., as a member of the board of directors and served several years as president of Alabama By-Products Corp., one of the largest coke producers in the United States.

Adair has been active in community and civic affairs, including the Boy Scouts, the Baptist Hospital Board and the Jimmy Hale Mission. He is very active in Briarwood Presbyterian Church, serving as elder, finance committee chairman, bible study leader and mentor. Adair and his wife, Martha Edd, have been married over 60 years.

SAM P. FAUCETT III, 72, of Northport has had a distinguished career in the banking business. Faucett, of Northport, graduated from the Culverhouse College of Commerce in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He attended the University of Oklahoma for commercial lending school as well as the University of Wisconsin for graduate school of banking.

Faucett started his career with City National Bank in 1962 as a loan teller. He spent the majority of his professional career with Regions Bank and its predecessors, First Alabama Bank and City National Bank. He served as president and member of the executive council of the Western and Florida regions for Regions Financial Corp. before retiring in February 2000, and served on the executive committee responsible for the major acquisitions that created Regions as one of the top banks.

Faucett is a member of the Culverhouse College of Commerce Board of Visitors, UA’s President’s Cabinet, former chairman and director of the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce. He served as mayor and councilman for the City of Northport, director of the Capstone Health Services Foundation, and vice chairman, trustee and board member of the DCH Regional Medical Center. Many civic improvements in West Alabama and the state are a result of his behind-the-scene efforts. The new Tuscaloosa County High School and the renovations to downtown Northport are examples of Faucett’s generosity and influence. The consummate banker and civic leader has made a major difference in his home state and community.

ELMER B. HARRIS, 68, of Birmingham, has been a major force in the economic development of Alabama through his role as president of Alabama Power Co. Harris joined Alabama Power in 1958 while in college. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Auburn University. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Flight School as well as Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College. He achieved the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force.

He became senior vice president at Alabama Power Co. in 1978, and a year later he was elected executive vice president and chief financial officer. In 1985, Harris joined Georgia Power, a sister company to Alabama Power, as executive vice president and then senior executive vice president, before returning to Alabama Power in 1989 as president and chief executive officer.

During his more than 13 years as president and CEO of Alabama Power Co., Harris took a dynamic and active role in civic and community leadership throughout the state. He was instrumental in the creation of the Alabama Power Foundation, which has invested more than $50 million in projects to strengthen the communities that Alabama Power serves. He played a major role in the creation of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, or EDPA, in 1991. Under Harris’ direction, the EDPA has become a leader in economic development efforts around the Southeast by working to bring companies such as Mercedes Benz, Honda, Navistar, Boeing, and IPSCO Steel to Alabama. In addition, Harris was responsible for the creation of the Alabama Business Charitable Trust which has helped provide energy assistance and disaster relief for more than 40,000 Alabamians during the most trying times of their lives.

Harris has served, or currently serves, on numerous boards such as Alabama Power Co., Southern Company, AmSouth Bancorporation, United Way (1999 chairman), Business Council of Alabama (1993 chairman), Boy Scouts of America, and many others. He was recognized by the Economic Development Association of Alabama as Volunteer of the Year for 1993.

RAYMOND B. JONES, 72, of Huntsville has had a successful career in business, real estate development and farming. He completed Huntsville High School in 1953 and graduated from Auburn University in 1957. Upon graduation from college, he served on active duty with the National Guard as a 2nd lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers and returned to run the family farm in the late 1950s. Upon the death of his father, Carl T. Jones, Jones assumed the presidency of G.W. Jones & Sons Consulting Engineers Inc. which provides consulting engineering services for roads, bridges, air fields, water and waste water engineering designs, as well as land surveying services. He is still employed by the firm as chief executive officer after having served for 35 years as president.

He began serving as director of the 1st National Bank in Huntsville in 1967 and, at the time, was the youngest bank director of any bank in the state of Alabama. Jones served until 2005, completing 38 years of service with the distinction of being the director with the longest tenure in the Regions banking system. He served as president of the Huntsville Industrial Associates, a real estate investment trust, from 1969 to 1984 as well as president of the Huntsville Hilton Corp. from its inception in 1978 until it was sold in 1984.

Jones is a partner in Jones Lowe Real Estate Development Co., which is involved in real estate development and sales. He has been involved in numerous apartment and condominium developments, as well as a shopping center in Huntsville. As president of the North Alabama Mineral Development Co., Jones is responsible for coal and related mining efforts in north Alabama of approximately 100,000 acres of mineral reserve in Jackson and DeKalb counties. As managing partner of G.W. Jones & Sons Farm, Jones manages approximately 11,000 acres of farmland in Madison, Limestone, Jackson and Marshall counties in Alabama and Lincoln County in Tennessee. The farming enterprise is primarily in the cattle business but also produces cotton, soybeans, corn and timber.

Jones is president and chief executive officer of R.B. Jones & Associates Inc., which develops residential & commercial projects as well as offering real estate sales.

Jones has served as chairman of the University of Huntsville Foundation and is a past president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, past chairman of the Ducks Unlimited (Huntsville district), member of the Newcomen Society of North America, was selected Huntsville’s Outstanding Young Man of the Year (1968), received the Distinguished Service Award in 2002 by the Huntsville Madison County Chamber of Commerce and has participated in many other civic activities.

W.A. WILLIAMSON JR., 71, of Montgomery is chairman of Whetstone Capital L.P., a private investment company. Williamson began his career in 1958 with Durr Fillauer Medical Inc., a distributor of pharmaceuticals, health and beauty aids, hospital supplies and equipment. He served as secretary and treasurer from 1964 to 1971 and as vice president of operations from 1972-1974, when he was elected president and chief executive officer. In 1981, he was elected chairman of the board and remained chairman and CEO until he resigned in September 1992, when Durr Fillauer Medical Inc. was acquired by Bergen Brunswig Corp. Under his leadership, the company became public in 1972 and sales grew from approximately $40 million to over $1 billion in 1992

In 1982-1983, he served as chairman of the National Wholesale Drug Association.

Williamson is on the board of directors of Genesco, Inc., a New York Stock Exchange customer products company. He is a member of the Board of Visitors of The University of Alabama Culverhouse College Of Commerce. In 1992, Williamson and others were instrumental in establishing the chair to teach business ethics at the business school. He is chairman of the Board of Directors of Jackson Hospital and on the Board of Kairos Ministries. In 1993, he was the recipient of the Golden Hawk Award from the business school of Huntingdon College in Montgomery.

He is a member of the Christ ChurchXP, and Anglican parish, and Leadership Alabama (class of 1992-93). Williamson graduated from The University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in management.

The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration was established in 1919, and, in 1929, became the 38th school to earn admission into the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business. The excellence of the UA business school has been acknowledged on a national level. The undergraduate program is ranked 38th among public universities by U.S. News and the Culverhouse School of Accountancy is ranked 15th among public universities by U.S. News. The graduate accounting program is ranked 15th and the undergraduate program 14th by Public Accounting Report.

Note to editors: Short biographical sketches are attached. Drawings or photos of the inductees are available electronically by calling Bill Gerdes, 205/348-8318.